Going the extra mile for Extra Space Storage

Sometimes you just need a little space. Maybe you’re moving, need a place to store unused items, or just got out of a bad relationship. Either way, space is good. And since 1977, Extra Space Storage has been leading the charge in transforming the storage industry.

Extra Space Storage built their business model from a simple idea: their facilities would make storing your stuff easy, clean and secure. Now, with those same principles guiding their company, Extra Space Storage boasts nearly 1,500 stores in 39 states, with over 900,000 units and 103 million square feet of rentable space.

Where physical storage meets online reservations

Historically, Extra Space Storage has relied heavily on its call centers and stores to handle rentals and reservations. But, as the world moved to mobile, Extra Space Storage realized there was a huge opportunity to push more of their reservations online. While they had a website at the time, it wasn’t converting—especially on mobile—which in turn only increased the stress on their sales centers.

Redesigning their digital space

When Extra Space Storage came to SolutionStream, we immediately realized that the bulk of their problem was in the current UX/UI elements on their website. Not only was it was outdated, but the process lacked flow, leading to frustration among users.

We started by diving deep and analyzing competitor sites. Coupled with our user research, we identified some key areas to improve and put together some site designs that matched Extra Space Storage’s visual identity while proposing several new UX/UI concepts that were specifically tailored to their needs.

Our initial designs were met with some concern from the client, as they had never tested anything like what we were proposing. To address the lack of hard data, we researched our suggestions and found working examples of them on other sites, both within their industry and without. We also leveraged analytical data that showed how our suggestions would cater to their targeted personas. This helped increase client confidence and kept the project moving forward.

Managing the client and project deadlines wasn’t always easy, but in the end, we provided Extra Space Storage with a long-lasting solution that continues to reduce their reliance on their call centers and improve online reservation numbers.

There were difficulties throughout the design. Page load times had to be lightning fast, Arial was the only approved font for example, etc. But we pushed through it and delivered an excellent product.